The world’s worst dictators, human rights abusers and largest arms firms will gather behind closed doors in Britain this week at a government-backed arms fair that supports repressive regimes, a leading campaign group warns.

The two-day Security Policing Conference and Exhibition will be
hosted in Farnborough, Hampshire, South East England. It will
kick off on March 10, with the press explicitly excluded.

News of the arms fair surfaces as Britain reportedly approved the
sale of £16 million worth of anti-riot equipment, including tear
gas and rubber bullets to countries on its own human-rights
blacklist.

Critics say the British government is prioritising profits over
human rights.

Organized by the Home
Office, this week's arms fair in Farnborough will focus on the
sale and promotion of military wares commonly deployed for“state repression,”according to Britain's
Campaign Against the Arms Trade.

Delegations from a slew of repressive regimes are expected to
attend.

Although the invitee list is yet to be publicly disclosed, CAAT
suggests it will likely contain representatives who have
frequented similar events. Among these are delegations from Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Colombia, Qatar, Libya and Algeria.

CAAT carries out research into the global arms trade and its
devastating impact worldwide. It seeks to raise awareness about
the destructive effect arms dealing has on security, human rights
and economic development at home and abroad.

The campaign group suggests UK military equipment may have been
deployed during repressive crackdowns and human rights violations
in Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait and Hong Kong. It says these
allegations would never have surfaced were it not for the work of
journalists and activists located on the ground in these regions.

CAAT’s Andrew Smith says
the arms fair in Farnborough undermines the British government’s
claims of promoting human rights abroad. He warns the event will
ultimately serve to bolster and strengthen repressive
governments.

Smith argues events such as this consolidate Britain’s links to
dictatorships, and further entrenches the government’s position
as a “global arms dealer.”

Last year, visitors
attending the arms fair in Farnborough were presented with the
exhibition stands of weapons manufacturing giants BAE Systems,
Thales, Finmeccanica, Heckler & Koch and others. Surveillance
firms like the Gamma Group and The Hacking Team were also
present, according to CAAT.

BAE Systems is Europe’s largest arms firm, and has supplied many
repressive governments, such as Saudi Arabia’s, Bahrain’s and
Mubarak's Egypt. Thales is the eleventh largest arms firm in the
world, and has also sold military wares to some of the most
oppressive regimes across the globe, CAAT says.

Her unexpected intervention left the crowd somewhat stunned.
Before being escorted off stage, O'Reilly suggested arms dealers
in the audience should reconsider their careers.

The annual dinner, which cost attendees £246 per head, was hosted
by ADS – a trade body for British Aerospace, and other defense,
security and space companies.

Shortly before the ADS dinner, it emerged the Prince of Wales
allegedly wishes to end his role as a promoter of British arms in
the Middle East. The
revelation was unveiled by an unauthorized biography documenting
Prince Charles’ life, published in February.